The Missouri Compromise was an attempt by the United States government to diffuse the issue of slavery. The issue of slavery had arisen in the recent years due to the expansion of the country. The question of slavery in every new territory rocked the nation. The Missouri Compromise was one of the government’s last attempts to fix it diplomatically. For years the Southern States and the Northern States argued over the concept of slavery. It is generally thought that those in the North were the abolitionist and those in the South were the slavers. While this is generally accurate there was a bit more nuance in it. The issue of Missouri came around when it applied for statehood. The number of free and slave states was equal, and this threatened that fragile balance. Congress knew they had to be careful, since one wrong move could create chaos for the young nation. The way out was seen as soon as Maine requested statehood as well. They introduced the Missouri Compromise to appease both factions. For example, “In an effort …show more content…
To expand, they were aware of the conflict that could a occur, if a Free Black saw a man of his color being enslaved as property. One thing that is often forgotten is the biggest hit to Slaves at the time, the Fugitive Slave Act. This act meant that a Slave Owner could retrieve his slave is it escaped North. Even more vile, was the use of this to capture Free Blacks who were apprehended as Slaves, purposefully and accidentally. This was the turning point in the fight against slavery. It was clear that there was no more diplomatic action to be done. Some thought that slavery was finally able to be ignored, and the country could move on. Many knew that these events led to an inescapable conflict. There truly was no way to stop slavery in the United States without bloodshed. The South was playing a game with the government, that they were bound to lose sooner or